Lerwick Observatory Building, Shetland Islands

Client: Met Office, Exeter, Devon

Extraspace Solutions were awarded the contract to design and build a new weather observation laboratory for The Met Office on the Shetland Islands through the GPS Framework. The contract included all associated site works including major demolition of the old facility, sub structures, drainage, service routes, paths, ramps, external walkways and a new car park. We were also contracted to install and complete new water mains and provide service cabling to weather monitoring stations some 500m away from the main site on hilltop locations.

Externally, the building was designed and finished to compliment the planning policy on the island; with timber cladding in Nordic colour schemes, kingspan render cladding panels and a timber truss roof with a Deccra tile finish. We installed powder coated window systems with aluminium powder coated entrance and exit lobbies which were attached to the main building. We also designed a bespoke window system for the client Dobson room to allow the effective operation of monitoring equipment to be able to operate in the right temperatures and also to visibly track the movement of the sun.